The Agreement for the Establishment of the Regional Commission for Fisheries - RECOFI - was approved by the FAO Council at its Hundred and Seventeenth Session (November 1999) by Resolution No. 1/117.

Pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article I of the Agreement, membership in the Commission is open to Members and Associate Members of FAO and such non-member States of FAO as are Members of the United Nations, or any of its Specialized Agencies or the International Atomic Energy Agency that are coastal States or Associate Members whose territories are situated wholly or partly within the Area defined in Article IV, that accept the Agreement in accordance with the provisions of Article XIII. It should be noted that Article IV defines the Area as "...the region bounded in the south by the following rhumb lines: from Ras Dhabat Ali in (16° 39'N, 53° 3'30"E) then to a position in (16° 00'N, 53° 25'E) then to a position in (17° 00'N, 56° 30'E) then to a position in (20° 30'N, 60° 00'E) then to Ras Al-Fasteh in (25° 04'N, 61° 25'E)."

In accordance with paragraph 2 of Article XIII of the Agreement, acceptance of the Agreement shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument of acceptance with the Director-General of the Organization, the depositary of this Agreement, and shall take effect on receipt of such instrument by the Director-General.

As provided for in Article XIV, the Agreement entered into force on 26 February 2001, the date of receipt by the Director-General of the third instrument of acceptance. The Agreement was registered with the Secretariat of the United Nations on 10 April 2001 under No. 37433.

Parties to the Agreement

The following participants deposited their instruments of acceptance on the corresponding date indicated:

Participant	Acceptance
Iraq	20 August 2008
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	6 December 2001
Kuwait	19 May 2006
Oman	19 December 2001
Qatar	12 July 2000
Saudi Arabia	3 November 2000
United Arab Emirates	26 February 2001